Get the kids away from the play stations!

The Wellington Indoor Community Sports Centre is ready for action. Photo: Neil Price, Wellington City Council.
“Some people are calling it a stadium already. That’s not what it is for. The Council’s aim is to get the community active.”
Wellington Basketball Association is a key stakeholder and will be housed in the new ICSC. Wellington Netball and Capital Football will also use the new facilities along with volleyball, korfball and floorball clubs. Growing popularity of these sports accentuated Wellington’s need for more indoor sports capacity, which the 11,000 square metre resource will provide.
“They are not widely in people’s awareness,” says Hutchings of the new-fangled korfball and floorball, little-known sports which are rapidly gathering players and supporters.
“This will help grassroot sport grow a participation base.”
Professional teams such as the Wellington Saints basketball team might use the facility for training but not games. These will continue to take place at the TSB Bank Arena or Porirua’s Te Rauparaha Arena, as the ICSC only seats 2,000 spectators and is “not set up” for hosting games, says Saints general manager Tara Hakiwai.
“The centre is the perfect facility for the National Secondary Schools Basketball tournament finals. In the past those games have been held outside Wellington which means kids have had to pay transport and accommodation costs,” says Hutchings.
The council’s Jim Coard is happy to describe the 12-court facility as world class. He believes it will contribute towards Wellington youth keeping active by providing them with first-rate playing and training facilities for a variety of indoor sports.
About 40 schools are located close to Kilbirnie and as many do not have their own sporting facilities, students will use the centre for sports development and physical activity and education programmes.
City councillor Andy Foster questioned the centre’s Cobham Park location due to traffic and transport issues. He suggested it be built above the Westpac Trust stadium concourse but there was the potential for conflict with stadium events. He supports the centre’s opening but believes it would have further contributed to the city’s vitality in a more central location.
“The decision has been made and hopefully it works as well as it can.”
The Indoor Community Sports Centre opening will be held on August 27. Celebrations will include a public ceremony and community open day from 10am. Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown will cut the red ceremonial ribbon before a day of entertainment including a celebrity basketball match.









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